The Idea of Gangsters in America

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Recommended: American dream in the pursuit of happiness

Deep down inside everyone has the same desire – to do what one wants whenever he or she chooses to and to not have to worry about anyone or anything else. Along with this desire to be able to do what ever it is that one wishes to at any given time, a person wants to be successful at what they do. The type of success that a person wants may be measured in money, property, fame, or even the entourage that follows him or her. This kind of lifestyle is only truly lived by a certain kind of people – gangsters and mobsters. For the rest it is just a dream to be able to live such a life, but for gangsters and mobsters this lifestyle is reality. But these gangsters can go around doing anything they want without the fear of consequences, which would, for most people, lead to long-term prison sentences. We are commonly shown in many movies and television shows that gangsters can just walk into an alley and beat up whoever they wish and be able to leave as if nothing ever happened. In “The Gangster as Tragic Hero” by Robert Warshow and “Our Mobsters, Ourselves: Why The Sopranos Is Therapeutic TV” written by Ellen Willis the gangster’s middleclass part of his or her lifestyle is brought out along with this “dream” reality at the same time. When we hear the words gangster or mobster, the first picture that comes to mind is bloodshed and violence. But Warshow shows us in his writings that this is not necessarily the case by giving us examples from the movie The Godfather of how the family is very similar to a normal everyday household yet very different at the same time. The family has this unique kind of courage that allows them to do what they want without having to care about what they can lawfully do. The family does not openly talk abou... ... middle of paper ... ...done so much and lived the “dream” life that portrayed Americanism from a different view than what most other books or movies show it to us as. Doing every little crime they pleased, fulfilling every wish they had ended up in there being nothing more left to do. Gangsters and mobsters both live the true American dream that all of society has to do what one wants to when one wants to. Being successful in their way of life is what allowed them to be able to do what they wanted and not have to care about anyone stopping them. But too much of this success is what leads to their permanent fall. If a majority of society had such success to be able to do what they pleased when they pleased, would it be a good thing? Would it help them achieve the happiness they long for? Or would it just lead to their fall much quicker than the mobsters and gangsters in movies and on TV.

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